I have an 11-year-old son who is in 6th grade, but he reads in about a 4th or 5th grade level and has a terrible time with spelling. What product would you suggest to start a program with another one I am already using? I don’t even know what level or what I should buy to start him out at. Please suggest.

Before I purchase any program, I would be sitting down and having a heart-to-heart, frank discussion with my child’s teacher. Asking questions like what the school is doing specifically to help my child obtain reading level status. What programs is he enrolled in to ensure his reading success? Who is tracking his reading progress? What are his test scores? What does he do well in, what areas of reading skill does he lack? Going back a few years to figure out why isn’t reading at grade level–figuring out what he missed in his reading training, and why he’s behind grade level, will help you decide on a re-teaching/retraining strategy that may or may not include the help of his teachers and his school. You need to determine what in his reading ability is lacking, and then go about filling in those holes to make him a more complete reader.

There is a big difference between programs that teach young children their beginning reading skills, and programs that teach reading recovery to older children. You need to determine his abilities first, and then find a program that meets his specific needs. Best of luck to you.